I create a lot of hand printed and hand dyed fabrics during my workshops and when I am demonstrating at shows. The colours and designs are somewhat random as I like to use lots of different colours in order to, hopefully, inspire my students or audience. But the majority of these fabrics are never going to make it into one of my quilts so last autumn I started to ‘curate’ the fabrics into inspiration packs to sell at shows. I pick between 3 and 5 printed fabrics and match them up with 2 or more dyed fabrics. Sometimes I stick within quite a narrow colour palette. Other times I add a piece in a complimentary colour. I really rather enjoy the process!

But times have changed and so I have now added Wonky Print Inspiration Packs to my online shop. Each pack contains approximately 1 square metre of fabric and costs £20.

As I have already blogged I am only posting out to UK addresses right now. Partly because I suspect that international post is going to be disrupted but also because I know that the Royal Mail are doing their bit to keep some of our economy going whilst looking after it’s employees. (The presence of a strong union protecting its workers is a big factor in this but that is a bit political for this post!)

I do know that people are worried about the spread of virus on surfaces. Rest assured I am taking every precaution - my husband falls into one of the high risk categories so we have isolated ourselves. Our son Joe is our contact with the outside world and takes the parcels to the post office for me (having stood over 2 metres from me when I put the bag out for him). Obviously we worry that post people and delivery drivers might inadvertently spread the virus …. I wash my hands immediately after taking delivery of parcels and then leave them for at least a day before handling again. And as I write this I can’t quite get my head around how quickly everything has changed ….

I truly hope that you are all in good health and that those of you who are self isolating have the support you need and lots of creative activities to keep you busy!

Leah

Big box has been ticked today here at Urban Studio North! Yes, I have now added a range of thermofax screen designs to my website. I have added the designs that have proved most successful with my students over the last 18 months. There are 12 designs available as a large ‘A4’ screen. Eight of these designs are also available as small ‘A5’ screens as well. And I’ve added thermofax squeegees.

For those of you who don’t know thermofax screens use a fine polyester mesh that has a very thin polyester film on one side. The design is burnt onto that thin film using thermal imaging technology that was originally developed for use in the earliest photocopiers in the 1950’s. The thermal process only affects the film - the mesh is left intact but is now ‘open’ so that you can now print your design onto fabric or paper. To make life easier the mesh is mounted onto a sturdy perspex frame. Whilst not as robust as traditional silk screens, thermofax screens will last through many, many prints if used correctly. They need to be used with a special squeegee as the regular screen printing squeegees drag on the fine mesh and can stretch it. They also need to be cleaned very gently to protect the remaining polyester film on the back of the mesh.

I use thermofax a lot. The designs on my website are great for putting a layer of marks onto fabric before adding colour and shape on top using a regular screen. I use them with both thickened dye and with textile inks although you do need to wash your screen immediately after using them with textile inks (or fabric paints) as these will ruin a screen if left to dry.

Next on my ‘keep busy and try not to worry’ list is printing fabric to make up some of my Wonky Print Inspiration Packs.

Stay safe, stay well,

Leah

Who would have thought that our lives could change so quickly? Having already postponed or cancelled my March and April classes it looks increasingly likely that I’ll have to do the same for May … and who knows how much further out. Like many self-employed people it is impossible not to worry about the financial implications of this. Worry is a bit of an understatement. But having wallowed in self pity (and gin) for a few days I have pulled myself together and got busy!

And so I am very pleased to announce that I have now expanded the shop on my website to include dyes, textile inks, acrylic shapes and other stuff that I use all the time in my studio. In the next few days I will also be adding a small range of thermofax screens designed by yours truly. And, as the days / weeks go by I will be adding packs of hand dyed and printed fabrics. Developing an online shop has been on my to-do list for a while. It is horrid that it has taken this crisis to make me sit down and do it but there you go.

It may be that online trading becomes impossible if things get really but for now I am shipping using Royal Mail. The one bit of bad news though is that I am only shipping within the UK from today. Whilst stuff is still moving internationally I suspect that this will become increasingly unreliable as the weeks go buy. Those of you in the US who want to buy my book can do so from Dharma Trading Co whilst they have stock.

(This has all been done in a bit of a hurry by a seriously distracted Leah so please help me out and let me know if bits of the website don’t work!)

Stay safe, stay well,

Leah x